Ron Rivera thinks the Panthers are treated like party crashers

Ron Rivera thinks the Panthers are treated like party crashers. Rivera told the media Friday that his team sees doubters now and even before it lost its first game last week.

“I don’t get it,” Rivera said. “I really don’t. It’s funny. At one point you’ve got a 14-game winning streak and people doubt you, then you lose one game and people doubt you even more.”

Rivera went on to say that his team was party crashers.

“I think we crashed the party,” Rivera said. “People were expecting us to be 8-8, 9-7, I guess. It took people a long time to pay attention to us.”

“I don’t think we were fairly treated by some other people. People made statements about who we are, and they have no idea about who we really are.”

The 14-1 Panthers were upset 20-13 last Sunday at Atlanta. Carolina hosts Tampa Bay at 4:25 Sunday. Rivera’s team has already clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs, but could still lose the top seed in the NFC to the Arizona Cardinals.